AirPods - Technical Specifications

Overview

Wireless. Effortless. Magical.

AirPods will forever change the way you use headphones. Whenever you pull your AirPods out of the charging case, they instantly turn on and connect to your iPhone, Apple Watch, iPad, or Mac.1 Audio automatically plays as soon as you put them in your ears and pauses when you take them out. To adjust the volume, change the song, make a call, or even get directions, just double-tap to activate Siri.

Driven by the custom Apple W1 chip, AirPods use optical sensors and a motion accelerometer to detect when they’re in your ears. Whether you’re using both AirPods or just one, the W1 chip automatically routes the audio and engages the microphone. And when you’re on a call or talking to Siri, an additional accelerometer works with beamforming microphones to filter out background noise and focus on the sound of your voice. Because the ultralow-power W1 chip manages battery life so well, AirPods deliver an industry-leading 5 hours of listening time on one charge.2 And they’re made to keep up with you, thanks to a charging case that holds multiple additional charges for more than 24 hours of listening time.3 Need a quick charge? Just 15 minutes in the case gives you 3 hours of listening time.4

Highlights

Designed by Apple

Automatically on, automatically connected

One-tap setup for all your Apple devices1

Quick access to Siri with a double-tap

More than 24-hour battery life with Charging Case3

Charges quickly in the case

Rich, high-quality audio and voice

Seamless switching between devices

What’s in the Box

AirPods

Charging Case

Lightning to USB Cable

Weight

AirPods (each): 0.14 ounces (4 g)

Charging Case: 1.34 ounces (38 g)

Dimensions

AirPods (each): 0.65 by 0.71 by 1.59 inches (16.5 by 18.0 by 40.5 mm)

Charging Case: 1.74 by 0.84 by 2.11 inches (44.3 by 21.3 by 53.5 mm)

Connections

AirPods: Bluetooth

Charging Case: Lightning connector

AirPods Sensors (each):

Dual beam-forming microphones

Dual optical sensors

Motion-detecting accelerometer

Speech-detecting accelerometer

Power and Battery

AirPods with Charging Case: More than 24 hours listening time,3 up to 11 hours talk time6

15 minutes in the case equals 3 hours listening time4 or over an hour of talk time7

System Requirements

iPhone, iPad and iPod touch models with iOS 10 or later

Apple Watch models with watchOS 3 or later

Mac models with macOS Sierra or later

Compatibility

iPhone Models

iPhone X

iPhone 8

iPhone 8 Plus

iPhone 7

iPhone 7 Plus

iPhone 6s

iPhone 6s Plus

iPhone 6

iPhone 6 Plus

iPhone SE

iPhone 5s

iPhone 5c

iPhone 5

iPad Models

iPad Pro 10.5-inch

iPad Pro 12.9-inch (2nd Generation)

iPad Pro 12.9-inch (1st Generation)

iPad Pro 9.7-inch

iPad

iPad mini 4

iPad mini 3

iPad mini 2

iPad Air 2

iPad Air

iPod Models

iPod touch 6th Generation

Watch Models

38mm Case

42mm Case

Apple TV Models

Apple TV 4K

Apple TV (4th generation)

Requires an iCloud account and macOS Sierra, iOS 10, or watchOS 3.

Testing conducted by Apple in August 2016 using preproduction AirPods units and software paired with preproduction iPhone 7 units and software. The playlist consisted of 358 unique audio tracks purchased from the iTunes Store (256-Kbps AAC encoding). Volume was set to 50%. Testing consisted of full AirPods battery discharge while playing audio until the first AirPod stopped playback. Battery life depends on device settings, usage, and many other factors.

Testing conducted by Apple in August 2016 using preproduction AirPods units and software paired with preproduction iPhone 7 units and software. The playlist consisted of 358 unique audio tracks purchased from the iTunes Store (256-Kbps AAC encoding). Volume was set to 50%. Testing consisted of full AirPods battery discharge while playing audio until the first AirPod stopped playback. The drained AirPods were charged for 30 minutes, then audio playback was continued until the first AirPod stopped playback. This cycle was repeated until both the AirPods and the Charging Case were fully discharged. Battery life depends on device settings, usage, and many other factors.

Testing conducted by Apple in August 2016 using preproduction AirPods units and software paired with preproduction iPhone 7 units and software. The playlist consisted of 358 unique audio tracks purchased from the iTunes Store (256-Kbps AAC encoding). Volume was set to 50%. 15-Minute charge testing was conducted with drained AirPods that were charged for 15 minutes, then audio was played until the first AirPod stopped playback. Battery life depends on device settings, usage, and many other factors.

Testing conducted by Apple in August 2016 using preproduction AirPods units and software paired with preproduction iPhone 7 units and software. Volume was set to 50%. Testing consisted of full AirPods battery discharge with a cellular phone call until the first AirPod stopped playing call audio. Battery life depends on device settings, usage, and many other factors.

Testing conducted by Apple in August 2016 using preproduction AirPods units and software paired with preproduction iPhone 7 units and software. Volume was set to 50%. Testing consisted of full AirPods battery discharge with a cellular phone call until the first AirPod stopped playing call audio. The drained AirPods were charged for 30 minutes, then the cellular phone call was continued until the first AirPod stopped playing call audio. This cycle was repeated until both the AirPods and the Charging Case were fully discharged. Battery life depends on device settings, usage, and many other factors.

Testing conducted by Apple in August 2016 using preproduction AirPods units and software paired with preproduction iPhone 7 units and software. Volume was set to 50%. 15-Minute charge testing was conducted with drained AirPods that were charged for 15 minutes, then a cellular phone call was conducted until the first AirPod stopped playing call audio. Battery life depends on device settings, usage, and many other factors.